Matinees
by NShadows
Summary: Audrey liked the hole in the wall theater in Haven. Sorry, just noticed I forgot to mark it complete!


I do not own Haven! Did anyone else want to cry during Adurey's conversation at the end of last week's ep?

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><p>There wasn't a giant multiplex in Haven. Most people made the drive to one of the nearby towns that had one. There was the screen the kids set up at Dockside Green, which people were collecting money to fix.<p>

Still, there was a movie theater. A little hole in the wall, one screen, nostalgic movie posters decoration theater. It was run by the old man that had been an usher when it first opened.

Audrey was horrible at names. She admitted that easily, but she was getting better.

She couldn't remember the old guy's name for anything. She thought he probably knew it too.

She'd first started showing up on weekdays, trying to act subtle and ask if the shows were sold out. It gave her something to do while she was on loan from the FBI. It didn't really matter what the movie was.

Eventually, John (or was it George) had taken pity on her and told her no one ever seemed to show up on Thursday afternoons.

She wasn't as subtle as she thought.

It had kept her mind off of things. The Troubles. Off of the oh so complicated people of this small town and their secrets.

Off of her own secret past that no one seemed to be able to help her with. Seriously, how hard was it to say yes, we knew Lucy and she was your mom. Or no, she wasn't, get the hell out of our town.

She would have taken either to be honest.

What was it Nathan had said when they first started working together? Skeletons in the closet?

Yeah, and no one had any interest in bringing them out.

So she distracted herself with the movie on the screen, sometimes booing, sometimes laughing until her stomach hurt. Sometimes she threw popcorn at the screen because the lines were just that cheesy.

Free to do whatever she wanted with no one watching. Isolation, privacy was something she had always craved at the orphanage. There had always been someone there, or just out of earshot. No secrets, no free time to watch whatever you wanted on tv. Hell, no tv half the time.

The isolation she'd craved as a child was something she'd found herself living without in Haven. She didn't have much of a choice. She'd surprised herself by not feeling resentful. She hadn't realized she was lonely.

When the movie ended she would always clean up the popcorn, gather her drink, and make sure the theater was as clean as she'd found it. She always smiled and said goodbye to the man behind the counter.

Sometimes he would stop her, asking her opinion of the film, or what upcoming films she thought would do well. She always answered, smiling, happy to find someone in this town she didn't have to ask about their secret afflictions.

Duke had teased her about not inviting anyone to the movies (missing the point of a dark theater, aren't you?)

Nathan had never said anything, but he always seemed to send her home early on Thursdays, or on days when she had to work, the theater always seemed to have their matinee running late.

She appreciated it, even if she wasn't very good at saying it.

When Eleanor had died, Audrey had come and stared at the screen, not really even paying attention to the film, just going over and over in her mind the things that had happened on Carpenter's Knot, and then with Vanessa.

Life in Haven was getting stranger. No doubt about it.

John (she was pretty sure it was John) patted her hand as she passed and gave her a sympathetic smile.

She thought maybe it was sign that people were starting to accept her in Haven.

Audrey sighed and moved on.

After things settled down with Audrey 2, as Duke called her, they both came to a movie. They both threw popcorn and booed, and laughed. Audrey wasn't sure she'd ever felt like she had family before.

Then Jenny Kick 'em Neck changed that.

Audrey hauled herself to the theater the next Thursday and settled herself into a chair, glumly staring as previews showed.

"So, is this supposed to be a comedy, cause you look like you need one."

Audrey turned, startled. Duke was leaning against the wall, with Nathan standing stiffly a few feet to his side.

"Hey," she said, silently bemoaning her lack of social… anything.

"Hey, Parker," Nathan said and came over to sit on her right. "Thought you might be here."

"So you were listening to the whole "What Audrey Parker Likes" conversation," Audrey said with a small smile. "Figured."

"Plus Jonathon called and said you looked like crap," Duke added as he took the seat on her left and stole a handful of popcorn.

"He did not!" Audrey said with a snort of laughter, silently congratulating herself on knowing the theater's owner really was named John, sort of.

"Okay, he didn't, but he did tell us you weren't very talkative," Duke said.

"He was worried? That's sweet."

She thought Nathan rolled his eyes but she wasn't sure in the dark.

"You know, we like you enough that you don't have to sit alone in a dark theater," Duke said as though scolding a small child.

"If you even hint at something about making out with her, I will shoot you," Nathan drawled, slumping in his chair.

"Touchy," Duke laughed.

"Boys, play nice." Audrey rolled her eyes. "You know, I come here on days like this because it's quiet."

"Okay," Nathan said with a slight smile. Duke and Nathan shared a brief look, then stood and moved back to the last row.

The previews finished, the beginning credits rolled, and Audrey sighed, then stood and went back to sit with them.

They were annoying, and loud, but they helped her throw popcorn at the screen, and they laughed at the right parts. In the end it wasn't so bad.

"So, next Thursday?" She asked as they cleaned up their popcorn. Well, Nathan and Audrey cleaned, while Duke mostly supervised and pointed out pieces they'd missed.

"You sure?" Duke asked teasingly. "Wouldn't want to ruin your alone time."

"I say we make we make him pick up everything next time," Nathan said coolly.

Audrey grinned and waved at Jonathon as they passed him on the way out. "Sounds like a plan."

And the next week, Audrey and Nathan locked Duke in the theater until he'd picked up all the popcorn while Jonathon looked on and smiled.


End file.
